Freethinker ~ Freerunner

I have spent three weeks adjusting to running thirty miles per week, and I'm feeling pretty comfortable.  As I look back over my log my RPE ratings seem to be averaging about two on a five point scale.  I did have a couple of threes on the last week, but I think that's because I pushed the speed a little bit.  

So since I've adjusted to the distance, I decided I would try my long run a little bit faster today.  My original plan was to run the first eight at a 7:40 pace followed by the final six miles at a 7:20 pace.  That turned out to be a little too lofty a goal for the distance and the evil hills on miles twelve and thirteen.

I have included the GAP (Grade Adjusted Pace) for miles nine to fourteen.  Strava calculates this automatically when you upload your miles from your Garmin.  It basically estimates what your pace would have been had you been running flats instead of hills.  If I look at the GAP I can see that I only missed my 7:20 goal pace on one of six miles.  I think I will consider this a win, and will continue to work on moving my pace closer to seven and then eventually to sub seven on my long runs.   

Splits:

Miles 1 to 8

7:36

7:44

7:37

7:39

7:53

7:39

7:44

7:38

Miles 9 to 14

Actual Pace   GAP (Grade Adjusted Pace) Source: Strava.com

7:23               7:10

7:19               7:21

7:23               7:10

7:46               7:08

7:44               7:27

7:30               7:19

whole run AP: 7:37 (actual pace)

First 8 AP:       7:42

Last 6 AP:       7:31

I laid in bed this morning and almost considered skipping my recovery run.  I'm glad I decided to get up and get out.  My legs and joints were a little sore on the first few hundred meters, but eventually it started to feel good.  

It was 59 degrees with some wind and a light sprinkle throughout this run.  

I ran speed intervals this morning that I got from Runners World.

8x500's 4 at 6:20 and 4 at 6:10.  The first four were run at my 5k race pace and the last four were run ten seconds faster.  I ran one mile to warm up and .85 miles to cool down.  I walked for 30 seconds between each of the first four and about 40 to 45 seconds between each of the last four. 

Splits:

Time     Pace

1:58      6:17

1:56      6:22

1:58      6:17

1:57      6:24

Last 4

Time   Pace

1:56     6:11

1:54     6:13

1:53     6:07

1:54     6:11

 I'm not sure why the pace for some of these splits is different for the same time, but these are the results that my Garmin recorded.  Hmmm...makes you wonder about the accuracy. 

I ran an easy ten this morning, and I kept it real easy with an 8:03 AP. My legs felt tired and my back felt a little sore.  It must have something to do with the two yards I cut yesterday on my day off.  I guess I'm still getting adjusted to the extra work.  I'm looking forward to my two rest days.  I may swim some laps tomorrow if I'm not kept at work too late.    

I did some speed work today by way of a one mile warmup followed by three 1600's and then a .63 mile cool down.  The goal was to do better than my 5k race pace.  I accomplished the goal so far as two of the splits are concerned.  On the third one I just had nothing left and fell a little short.  I have one week to go before the Full Moon 5k, and I would really like to best my time last year of 19:34. 

Splits:

6:09

6:14

6:28